ZAMORA´S URBAN PLAN

We define city as an urban settlement where a group of people live. This means that Zamora is a city.

Zamora is a small city in the northwest of Spain, next to Portugal, in the community of Castille and Leon. Probably it started more than two thousand years ago with a Celtic settlement. It’s easy to guess why these first settlers chose this place to inhabit:  On the top of a small hill (with a good vision of the surrounding land), just by a big river that gives food and protection from the south and by another small river that flows calmly to the main river on the north.

The urban plan of Zamora shows an irregular layout with some buildings that determine the historic past of our city: for example, the first medieval wall (which goes from the castle to Plaza Mayor) or the Cathedral. This area is known as the historic centre. This city distribution was created as small neighborhoods (called parish) surrounding churches, so there was always a church in the middle of a square and its parish around it. As the city increased its population, the second wall had to be built. But inside any of the walls of the city the distribution of the parishes surrounding a church has been maintained until recently.

Above all topics, the historic centre of my city has a cultural function. Here they are located the most important Romanic buildings and most of the Romanesque churches, which attracts tourism, but it has little economic importance as there are few shops in this area. Only the town hall, other political institutions, the main library and some museums are inside this first medieval wall. In my opinion, the main problems affecting this zone of the city are the ones derived from the great number of old houses abandoned and uninhabited and the lots without any edification that leads to a low density of population without many services as clinics, supermarkets, secondary schools, etc. The solution could be to force building new houses in abandoned houses and lots. On the contrary, the main commercial area is located around two streets in the second wall: many shops and restaurants are located around them. These straight streets were created at the end of the XIX century with a modernist square and modernist buildings. In my opinion, the main problems here are the high prices that flats and houses have around the two main commercial streets. But in general, in this city there aren’t many problems: the prices of houses are lower than in other cities, there isn’t pollution, it’s a safe city, noises are not excessive and you can go walking to most places...

Later, in the second half of the XX century, as the city's population started to increase, the small river was diverted from its course and some working neighborhoods such as Los Bloques, San Lázaro or San José Obrero were created out of the city walls. In theses neighborhoods low income families settled: in Los Bloques in small flats and In San José Obrero or San Lázaro in small single-family houses. And as a way of modernize the city, the old walls of the city were partially removed to build big buildings. A big neighborhood with linear distribution of straight streets and a some big avenues with trees was created outside the walls; I mean, Avenida Requejo, Avenida Príncipe de Asturias, Avenida Tres Cruces y Avenida Víctor Gallego with all its surrounding streets. A little apart from it the train station was built. Also the small universitary campus and the hospitals are settled in this area. But this expansion zone had a main residential purpose: no more than big buildings with lots of flats can be seen here. The main problems here are the traffic and the difficulty to park in these streets. On the contrary, by the other side of the river there have always been small single-familiar houses with a more anachronistic distribution of the streets.

A big residential area was created at the end of the XX century with big residential buildings: Las Viñas. As an anecdote, it’s worth mentioning that a great number of people that lived of agriculture from the villages of the province bought a flat here with the money received from the European Union grants. Also a residential neighborhood of big buildings with smaller flats was created on the other side of the railway: Peña Trevinca. And just by it, the only big supermarket in Zamora was built by the main road that goes across the city.

At the beginning of this century some residential neighborhoods as la Perla or Siglo XXI has been created offering the possibility to live in a big house to media-high economic class. Especially in Siglo XXI, the houses are bigger but the people is car-dependant because it’s out of Zamora and the public transport comes from time to time. But its pattern is clearly the one of a Garden City.

The conurbation village in Zamora par excellence is Morales del Vino: located 5 kilometers south of Zamora. Other conurbation villages are Moraleja del Vino, Villaralbo and Roales. The main problems affecting the outskirts of Zamora are the ones related with secondary schools and clinics, apart from dependence of a car to come to Zamora. Of course, the solution to these problems would be a good public transport between these villages and the city.